


a demon holds place in my heart till I die

by Antarctica_or_bust



Series: On the Outside Looking In [6]
Category: Hemlock Grove
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mental Powers, Mental Suggestion, Missing Scene, Nadia is a creepy demon child, POV Minor Character, POV Third Person Limited, Poignant, Roman is so not good with children, Upir, vampire child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 12:56:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21036593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antarctica_or_bust/pseuds/Antarctica_or_bust
Summary: Nadia's whole world is one small room.  She knows hunger and she knows rage but she doesn't know security until Peter Romancek comes back into Roman's life.





	a demon holds place in my heart till I die

She knows hunger. She knows rage.

The old one comes to feed her when she screams but she doesn't feel like safety. Her hands are frail and shaky, she's weak down to the core, and the child wants to tear her flesh apart. She wants to eat the old one, gorge upon her blood, and she screams around the bottle in her mouth. This food takes the edge off, but it doesn't truly soothe her, not deep inside where hunger grows.

The tall man understands because he feels like family. Not safety but sheer power and the spark within her blood. She wants them to hunt together, to feed and satiate, but he will not even touch her when she cries.

The child sleeps and wakes and feeds and screams, time passing without notice because every day is just the same.

Until it isn't.

First the tall man comes to hold her, though he smells like tears and longing, and he still won't feed her what she craves.

Then the woman finds her. Young and ripe, she isn't family. She feels like food and when the child calls, she answers willingly. For once the child gorges until she's satiated, the rabid beat of hunger no longer screaming in her chest. She wants to keep this woman. She wants to drain her dry and so she nudges greedily at that unguarded mind. The child sinks her hooks in deep and she feels herself grow stronger every time she feeds.

So she pushes at the tall one, trying to make him understand. The girl should stay forever and the child will even share her as long as she can eat. The tall one seems to listen; sometimes he'll come to visit and she can smell the woman on him, though his own deep hunger never seems quite satisfied. He still doesn't hold her often but the child is content enough for now.

Then the short man finds her. He's small and dark with a hint of wildness and he smells like sorrow on the wind. But despite his grief, the short man smiles, and the child has never seen a look like that before.

His smile speaks of safety, of love without reservation, and she knows in her bones that he'll keep her safe at any cost. Even the man's touch is warm and gentle, wrapping around her like a blanket when he takes her in his arms. She's so surprised that she stops screaming, even though her hunger has been growing once again. She doesn't understand this new sensation, but she knows that she wants to man to stay.

The tall one finds them together and they exchange sharp words about a Letha, each statement meant to cut. But the small man's hands stay gentle and the tall man doesn't hurt him despite the power that he holds.

Indeed, his face cracks open when her new friend looks away, revealing a maelstrom of emotions that she doesn't recognize. The child tastes them on her tongue: bittersweet and aching, but she doesn't know enough to place the ones she's never felt before. Yet she tastes longing and connection; she can feel the threads that bind these men together and she knows her world has changed.

The child can sense a difference in the tall one's mannerisms, his pain easing before her eyes. He doesn't resist when the short man tugs him forward with a gentle, “It's okay.”

The tall man actually holds her, four arms sharing her weight, and the feeling of safety multiples tenfold. She's wanted and protected for the first time in her short memory and she barely feels her hunger now. The dark man watches her blood with that same aching smile and she knows that she will fight to keep this.

The child thought she had enough with just the tall man and the woman, but she sees now that she was wrong. The woman may be food, but this could be her family; this is the version of her father that she wants to understand.

Because this small dark man is not like her. He's neither food nor blood but the child thinks he should be and she will do whatever it takes to keep these souls entwined.

_End_


End file.
